Advice and Tools
For every step of your Ostomy Journey
SASS aims to advocate and align the standard of Stoma care and services across South Africa which will be applicable to both the private and public sectors.
Ostomy Care
Tips and Tricks
The South African Society of Stomates (SASS) is a Non-profit organization formed by Ostomates across Southern Africa to facilitate a “holistic” approach to ostomy patient care by bridging the gap between the private and public sectors whilst advocating for the rights of fellow ostomates throughout the country.
SASS VALUE STATEMENT
SASS is dedicated to advocating for the rights and well-being of ostomates across South Africa. We strive to bridge the gap between private and public healthcare sectors, ensuring that all ostomates receive the highest standard of care.
Our mission is to provide comprehensive support, education, and resources to empower ostomates and their families, helping them navigate their new normal with confidence and dignity. By collaborating closely with clinicians and healthcare professionals, we ensure that our community receives expert care and guidance.
Aligning with global standards set by The International Ostomy Association (IOA), we aim to foster a community where every ostomate feels supported, informed, and valued.
Featured Topics
For Living with a Colostomy, Ileostomy or Urostomy
Help us achieve
What we set out to achieve with YOUR help
GET EDUCATED
Medically reviewed surgery-specific information. Making sure you have access to the best possible care. Ostomy pouch management tips, diet & nutrition, skincare, sexuality, travel tips and more!
FEEL SUPPORTED
Support to you & your family whilst you transition into your new normal. You will have access to a local peer support group, where you can get answers to questions, or connect with our Facebook community.
BE AN ADVOCATE
We aim to advocate the standard of Stoma care across private and public sectors, whilst aligning with the global standards set out by The International Ostomy Association (IOA).
Space is running out fast. Register now and join us at this scientific event!
Register today: www.sass.2026.co.za
#StomaNurseExcellenceAwards #SASS2026 #StrongerTogether #StomaNurse #OstomyCare #NursingExcellence #PatientCare #HealthcareHeroes #CompassionInCare #SouthAfrica#ostomychallenge #ostomyevent #sassconference
Meet Our Featured Speaker | Ms. Marijke Krijt
The South African Society of Stomates (SASS) is honored to welcome – Marijke Krijt, Occupational Therapist in Cape Town to the SASS 2026 National Conference.
An experienced Occupational Therapist with a diverse background spanning mental health, pediatrics, education and community-based care, she is passionate about enabling individuals to achieve greater independence, wellbeing and quality of life. Her expertise in therapeutic intervention, emotional regulation and multidisciplinary collaboration brings a holistic, client-centered perspective to healthcare and rehabilitation.
Presentation:
Guiding a patient to return to work with confidence and comfort after major abdominal and ostomy surgery: They are not disabled!
Join Marijke Krijt as she explores practical steps on how to return to work, dress code, be prepared for questions, manage stress, etc. Office jobs, physical jobs, jobs with long hours and traveling, reasonable adjustments to work environment if needed, meetings, seeing clients, changing pouches, knowing your rights: you are NOT disabled!!!
2–3 October 2026
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Woodstock, Cape Town
Register today: www.sass2026.co.za
#SASS2026 #StrongerTogether #ColorectalCancer #CancerAdvocacy #GlobalColonCancerAssociation #HealthcareLeadership #PatientCentredCare #CancerAwareness #HealthcareInnovation #SouthAfrica
Meet Our Featured Speaker | Mr. Jon Thorkelsson
The South African Society of Stomates (SASS) is honored to welcome – Mr. Jon Thorkelsson, The President of the European Ostomy Association (EOA) from Iceland to the SASS 2026 National Conference.
As an internationally recognized ostomy advocate and long-term ileostomate, he brings more than two decades of lived experience, leadership and global involvement in advancing the quality of life and care of people living with an ostomy. As President of the European Ostomy Association and long-standing Chairman of ISILCO, he has played an influential role in international collaboration, education and advocacy for ostomates across Europe and Africa.
Presentation:
Advancing Ostomy Care Through Global Collaboration and Patient Advocacy.
Join Mr. Jon Thorkelsson as he explores how the activities of the EOA, its member countries, how EOA facilitates workshops for doctors, nurses and ostomates to improve care, access and cooperation from health authorities for optimized assistance from local health resources.
2–3 October 2026
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Woodstock, Cape Town
Register today: www.sass2026.co.za
#SASS2026 #StrongerTogether #ColorectalCancer #CancerAdvocacy #GlobalColonCancerAssociation #HealthcareLeadership #PatientCentredCare #CancerAwareness #HealthcareInnovation #SouthAfrica
Meet Our Featured Speaker | Dr. Marion Arnold
The South African Society of Stomates (SASS) is honored to welcome – Dr. Marion Arnold, Pediatric Surgeon & UCT Senior Lecturer from Cape Town to the SASS 2026 National Conference.
A Consultant & Pediatric Surgeon at Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital and Senior Lecturer in Pediatric Surgery at the UCT, with specialist expertise in pediatric colorectal and reconstructive surgery. An accomplished researcher, educator and international speaker with 34 journal publications and extensive academic leadership, she brings a wealth of experience in pediatric ostomies, bowel management, colorectal conditions and multidisciplinary care.
Presentation:
Pediatric Gastrostomy Placement: Best Practice and Complication Management
Join Dr. Marion Arnold as she explores how to navigate the management of the gastrostomy patient from surgery to beyond discharge from hospital. She will share strategies on best practices and how to prevent and manage complications.
2–3 October 2026
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Woodstock, Cape Town
Register today: www.sass2026.co.za
#SASS2026 #StrongerTogether #ColorectalCancer #CancerAdvocacy #GlobalColonCancerAssociation #HealthcareLeadership #PatientCentredCare #CancerAwareness #HealthcareInnovation #SouthAfrica
Stronger Together. Building capacity. Sharing knowledge. Strengthening care.
Over the past week, SASS Clinical Lead Sr @jjvnoordwyk and Co-Founder & Patient Liaison Officer @heather.white.50159 have joined Coloplast in workshops supporting nurses caring for people living with a stoma across the public and private sectors.
In Johannesburg, Sr Jolanda shared practical clinical knowledge on convexity, while Heather brought the perspective that can never be learned from a textbook — the lived experience of being a patient.
And this journey continues.
📍 Johannesburg — completed
📍 Pretoria — next
📍 KZN — next week
📍 Western Cape — to follow
For SASS, this is about more than education. It is about bringing clinical expertise, lived experience, industry, healthcare professionals, the State and civil society together to build capacity and strengthen care.
Because better healthcare happens when we work together towards equitable, quality care for every person living with a stoma.
Stronger Together.
#ConvexityConnections #OstomyCare #NurseEducation #PatientAdvocacy #StrongerTogether
Meet Our Featured Speaker | Dr. Nazeer Chopdat
The South African Society of Stomates (SASS) is honored to welcome – Dr. Nazeer Chopdat, Specialist Physician, Hepatologist, and Gastroenterologist from Johannesburg to the SASS 2026 National Conference.
Consultant Gastroenterologist, Hepatologist, and Head of Medical Gastroenterology at Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, with extensive expertise in inflammatory bowel disease, liver disease, advanced gastrointestinal diagnostics and therapies. As a lecturer, examiner, clinical researcher and principal investigator in numerous international clinical trials, he brings a wealth of specialist knowledge and research-driven insight to advancing gastrointestinal healthcare and patient outcomes.
Presentation:
Enteral Access: Early Gastrostomy Complications Leading to Complex Wounds, Necrotizing Fasciitis and Treatment.
Join Dr. Nazeer Chopdat as he explores gastrostomy formation, post-operative management, preservation of the ostomy, prevention and treatment of complications which can lead to complex wounds in a multidisciplinary approach.
2–3 October 2026
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Woodstock, Cape Town
Register today: www.sass2026.co.za
#SASS2026 #StrongerTogether #ColorectalCancer #CancerAdvocacy #GlobalColonCancerAssociation #HealthcareLeadership #PatientCentredCare #CancerAwareness #HealthcareInnovation #SouthAfrica
Meet Our Featured Speaker | Dr. Josie Middelton
The South African Society of Stomates (SASS) is honored to welcome – Dr. Josie Middelton, Consultant Pediatric Surgeon from Cape Town to the SASS 2026 National Conference.
A Pediatric Surgeon with advanced international fellowship experience at Bristol Royal Hospital for Children in the United Kingdom, she has developed specialist expertise in pediatric colorectal, urological, thoracic and laparoscopic surgery. An accomplished clinician, researcher and educator, she has presented internationally and is actively involved in advancing pediatric surgical education, skills development and research in South Africa and abroad.
Presentation:
Neonatal Stomas: From Creation to Closure – Comprehensive Management, Complications, Nutrition, Fluid Balance, and Distal Refeeding.
Join Dr. Josie Middelton as she explores the indications for neonatal ostomy formation, types of neonatal ostomies, post-operative management and distal mucous fistula feeding. Complications, from nutritional challenges, and growth concerns, to closure.
2–3 October 2026
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Woodstock, Cape Town
Register today: www.sass2026.co.za
#SASS2026 #StrongerTogether #ColorectalCancer #CancerAdvocacy #GlobalColonCancerAssociation #HealthcareLeadership #PatientCentredCare #CancerAwareness #HealthcareInnovation #SouthAfrica
Meet Our Featured Speaker | Dr. Febẻ Bruwer
The South African Society of Stomates (SASS) is honored to welcome – Dr. Febẻ Bruwer, Clinical Nurse Specialist and Advanced Wound Care Practitioner from Johannesburg to the SASS 2026 National Conference.
A highly experienced Clinical Nurse Specialist and Advanced Wound Care Practitioner, she holds a PhD in Nursing, an MSc in Skin Integrity and Wound Management, with more than two decades of clinical expertise in complex wound care and patient management. A clinical investigator, educator, published author and Vice President of WHASA, she is actively involved in advancing evidence-based wound care through research, professional education, clinical trials and international collaboration.
Presentation:
Managing Complex, Non-healing wounds / Peristomal wounds when standard wound care fails in Pyoderma Gangrenosum, Vasculitis, Malignancy, etc.
Join Dr. Febẻ Bruwer as she explores managing wounds in patients on steroids, chemotherapy, biologics, or immunosuppressants. Treatment of atypical wounds versus the same wounds around stomas e.g. pyoderma gangrenosum, vasculitis, malignancy, etc. Why don’t chronic peristomal /wounds heal? Painful peristomal /wounds: assessment and management strategies. Consider prolonged, recurrent, or deteriorating peristomal /wounds and its management.
2–3 October 2026
DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel, Woodstock, Cape Town
Register today: www.sass2026.co.za
#SASS2026 #StrongerTogether #ColorectalCancer #CancerAdvocacy #GlobalColonCancerAssociation #HealthcareLeadership #PatientCentredCare #CancerAwareness #HealthcareInnovation #SouthAfrica
SASS Blog
What has been happening at SASS
SASS Stoma Nurse Excellence Awards 2026
Honouring Nurses Who Change Lives Behind every ostomate’s journey is often a nurse who made an impossible moment feel manageable.A nurse who provided dignity during uncertainty.A nurse who offered reassurance, compassion, education, and hope. The SASS Stoma Nurse Excellence Awards were created to recognise and celebrate stoma nurses who go above and beyond in supporting […]
SASS2026 Conference: Multidisciplinary Ostomy Care Conference in South Africa
The South African Society of Ostomates (SASS) will host the SASS2026 Conference at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Cape Town, bringing together healthcare professionals involved in the care and rehabilitation of people living with a stoma. The conference is designed as a multidisciplinary clinical platform, supporting knowledge-sharing across nursing, physiotherapy, biokinetics, dietetics, occupational therapy, and […]
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